


sparrow

by cartoonation



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Did I Mention Angst?, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Gency, Implied Violence, Mentions of Blood, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Slight Canon Divergence, Young Genji Shimada, all of the angst, au where genji never kept in touch with angela, non canon child character, present day overwatch universe, winston still loves his peanut butter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-01-25 13:16:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18575239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cartoonation/pseuds/cartoonation
Summary: When Genji made his way into the ruins of that house, it was the last thing he expected to find; anything but this.Anything but the crying little girl in the dusty corner, eyes just like his staring back in fear.(NOTE: On Extended Hiatus.)





	1. Below the Bunker

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! I've had this little headcanon for a while now, and idk why, but something possessed me to actually write it down here this afternoon. (Also Camp UA will be coming back eventually, I promise! ^_^)
> 
> On that note, enjoy! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

_"Over here!"_

Through all the smoke and haze, cries and tears, Lena's voice made out clear like a signal of hope through the chaos.  When they had gotten the call...when _Winston_ had gotten the call...all Genji could see and feel became a terrifying blur. 

_This couldn't be real._

_There was no way Angela had called for them._

_She had never wanted to return to Overwatch._

_To **him**._

_"La taqtarib!!"  
_

A pair of officers tried to restrain the cyborg from the crime scene, but to no avail; his synthetic structure allowed him speed and strength they could never hope to match. Even beyond the barricade of officers and caution tape was a tapestry of chaos. And yet... _nothing_. Crying children holding to their mothers, refugees running past him to the lines of safety. This was no omnic attack; the tents were all left standing with so little as a scratch or tatter; there were no bodies in the streets, or blood spilled on the gravel. _No_ , this was a calculated attack. Someone was deliberately here for something. 

 

Genji's stomach twisted as his mind lingered on that last thought.   
  
Some ** _one_**.

 

Winston stayed behind the crime scene, trying to assess what exactly had happened. _Why?_  The trio were nothing but a group of vigilantes now; nothing but a lawless group of misfits. The police would have no kind words to give them; even he knew that much. They had been luckily to get this far without a warrant for arrest. Genji's knuckles ached as he tightened his fist on the blade upon his back, trying to keep his mind clear.   
  
_Focus._  
  
_Find her._

He finally reunited with Lena a few blocks into the camp. The girl was looking back and forth between her pager and the only defiled building on the street. The back of her shoulders were tense. The fear was rattling her bones as well; he could feel it. Genji tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, causing the girl's posture to seize up for a moment.   
  
"This...this is where her pager is...I think..." Her whispers were soft and fragile, laced with terror of what was behind the broken door before them. The cyborg gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, trying futilely to reassure the both of them as he stepped past her. He knelt down before the wreckage of wooden planks, running a cybernetic finger over the slashed pieces. His eyes narrowed beneath his visor.

 

 _Slashed._ Someone has cut this door down with a sword. His blood ran cold; his heart stopped instantly. 

 

This wasn't just any man's work; these were the marks of an expert swordsman. 

 

_"Lena, I think you should go check on Winston."_

 

"W-what? No, we need to find-"

In a singular swift move, Genji's heart beat again, standing on his feet with fists clenched in a deathly tight grasp. He looked over his shoulder. Even beneath the shroud of his visor, the girl could feel the piercing gaze of his crimson eyes, the warning within them. 

 _You need to leave._  
  
"A-alright," she hesitantly relented with an averted gaze, taking a step away from the man. He waited in silence for her to leave beyond range of sight before pressing on.  _He'd seen one too many times all of what his clan was capable of._ No one else deserved to witness it; especially a soul as kind and bright as hers. 

_Yet, why?_

Why would they be after Angela...why would they travel so far from home to find her... _it **couldn't** be them._

His veins ran cold once more as he slipped through an opening of between the planks, seeing the ruins of what lay inside.  _Perfectly calculated destruction._

_..could it?_

 

All the blood the outside world had lacked could be made up for in the tiny kitchen alone; long, splattered trails of blood lined the floor and curtains, making its way past the cyborg's feet back to the front door. The couch of the living room had been sliced to ribbons, stuffing trickled out around both rooms. The one light bulb illuminating both from above had been shattered, its remnants beneath his feet. 

_A confrontation._

_There had been a confrontation here._

There was but a single door at the end of the living room, slashed and broken like the one before it. Genji's knees felt weak, his body hardly able to stand. His hands froze on the planks, fearing for what lay behind them.  
  
No, he **_needed_ **to see this through. For Winston.

 For Lena.  
  
_For Angela._

 

Taking a final weak breath, he closed his eyes as he stepped into the bedroom. He took a moment, the foul smell of blood perpetrating his mask as he gathered the strength to finally open his eyes. The initial shock of the scene before him found his synthetic lungs breathless. A simultaneous wave of horror yet relief washed over the man;  _there was no body._ She could still be alive out there, somewhere.  
  
But they had taken her. She was  _gone._

 

The room was dim, but the afternoon light of the singular shattered window to the west was more than enough for Genji to make out the scene. The bed was in a similar state of disarray as the couch before it; there was remarkably less blood than the other rooms of the cottage. Genji carefully tread his way around the room, looking for a single sign of hope to where she had disappeared to. His knees buckled as he lost his footing, seeing a clump of fair blonde hair sliced away beside the bed.  _Angela._

  
  
A sharp gasp echoed through the room.  
  
Genji snapped out of his mourning as he held it to his chest, looking around the small room. _Where-_

A creak sounded out beneath his feet and he looked down, realizing the loose plank beneath him had been the cause of his unsteady footing . He carefully put his head to the floor, stilting his breath as he listened.  
  
Quietly, carefully. 

Another shaky breath shot out from below.  _Someone was down there._

Without a beat of hesitation left, Genji immediately tore away the floor board. The opening was small- hardly large enough for a man to slip through, but it was hollow.  _A safety bunker._ The man jumped down, landing firmly on his feet. The light of the natural world above had vanished; only the lights of the man's synthetic body illuminated the bunker. 

 

A high pitch gasp- followed by a terrified sob- echoed through the confines of the room.

 

The bunker was barely three meters wide each way. There was nothing here but concrete, dust, and a small child huddled in the corner of the room. The man froze, taken aback at the sight.  
  
_A child._

_How could a child get down here?_

Genji cautiously crept closer to the little girl. She was shaken and sobbing. As he extended a hand, she threw her arms over her head, pulling her knees to her mouth as she gave a shrill cry. Genji panicked- he had never been good with consoling children. Even in the old days.   
  
"I-it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not with them."

For a brief moment, the girl let down her guard, a flash on an eye peeking back at Genji for a split second before she let out another cry, huddling in on herself once more.  _Of course she was afraid of him- why wouldn't she be?_

Genji looked down dejectedly, his eyes catching sight of the white and gold pager clasped in her had.  _Just like Lena's._  
  
Just like  **his.**

Had Angela been taking care of this child when...when  _they_ had come? His heart sank at the thought, realizing what this poor child- a girl who looked no more than five or six at most- had seen. Maybe she knew where Angela had gone. Maybe-  ** _no_.**  
  
  
That was  _no_ way for him to think. This child was scared and in danger. She needed to be comforted, not questioned.   
  
Genji sighed, sitting down on the floor beside her. He  _hated_ to do this, but how else was she supposed to take him as anything but an assassin? Not that there was much more than a scarred up monster beneath. The man relented, putting his hands to the sides of his head. His visor clicked and he pulled back, removing it and his mouth piece from his face.  _He couldn't even recall the last time he'd been this exposed since..._

"I'm not going to hurt you. I  _promise._ I'm here to save you."

The girl's arms fell to her feet; she looked back up at him. Yet this time, she did not look away. And it was as their eyes met that the man's heart skipped a beat, his body numb.  _It was like looking in a mirror._ The slender curve of her thin eyes, the soft angle of her chin...even the color of her eyes. Their deep oak brown were a perfect match to his...before the cybernetics. The girl looked nothing like any of the mothers that had been huddled in the streets. And nothing like Angela.   
  
_But she was a mirror image of him._

The girl stared at him for as long as he did her; it was the cybernetics, surely. Genji didn't have a shadow of a doubt she's never seen a man with glowing eyes and a metal jaw before. 

"A-re y-you a person? O-or a robot?" The little one final managed after an eternity of silence between them.

Caught off-guard, Genji fumbled, struggling to find the ability to speak.  
  
"I-  _yes."_

The sorrow and fear in the girl's eyes finally broke for a moment as she giggled.  _He must truly have looked like a dumbass right now to have accomplished the feat of making a child actually laugh._ She was calming down now- that was good. Trying not to think of the haunting questions and fears that plagued the back of his mind looking at her, he attempted to keep focus on the new task at hand. If he could gain her trust, he could get her out of here. To safety.   
  
_Names._ Names were always a good place to start, right?  
  
The man awkwardly bowed to the girl and extended a hand to her. Wait- did kids even shake hands?   
  
She looked at it curiously.  
  
_Probably not._  
  
"My name is Genji. Genji Shimada," he fumbled as he gave a lop-sided smile.  
  
The girl giggled again.  _Why was he so bad at this?_   _Well, at least it was working in some capacity.._

She extended a tiny hand back at him, a faint but pure smile on her face.   
  
"I'm Suzume Ziegler."

 

 

_And that was when Genji's heart shattered._


	2. The Tongue-Cut Sparrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji recounts a fond memory of his past. Meanwhile, the team contemplates how they are supposed to take care of a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your feedback on the last chapter! I had a l o t of fun writing this one, so I hope you all enjoy! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

It had been a rather cold Spring's morning when it had happened. The boy had been groggily eating his breakfast with his father and brother, arms shivering cold while his legs lay warm beneath the kotatsu. His father was busy laying out the morning training regime with his elder brother, who dutiful listened. Genji, on the other hand, could care less; it wasn't  _his_ empire to inherit, after all. Besides, it was all tediously boring, well beyond the range of the young boy's attention span. There were too many games to play, too many pranks to plan for the day to bother lending his ear. He took the liberty of resting his elbow on the table, head in his hand when his father seemed too invested in speaking to notice. Hanzo did, however, flashing his little brother a discrete, but telling, look of disgust out of the corner of his eye. Genji merely smiled back slyly, sticking his tongue out at him.  
  
Perhaps he was just jealous he didn't get to indulge in the carefree  _luxuries_ his younger sibling could. 

Suddenly, a blur of brown and white fluttering through the window caught the younger boy's eye, and Genji could not help but lean back on his pillow to investigate. It was a small bird, barely larger than the size of the child's palm. Its deep brown eyes met Genji's own, and the boy could not help but feel a faint connection between their wandering spirits. The bird chirped once, hopping in place. Genji glanced back at his father.  
  
_Still preoccupied._  
  
The bird chirped twice more, this time jumping into the boy's lap. He gasped, loud enough to cause his elder brother to give him yet another disapproving look in passing. He immediately averted his gaze to the other size of the room, feigning innocence. When it seemed he was in the clear once more, he looked back down, the bird still perched in his lap. It gave a flitter of its wings, looking between his rice bowl and the boy.  _It was hungry and cold, just like him._  
  
Genji gave another tentative look back at his family. Good; they were still busy. He carefully leaned forward, trying not to disturb the bird as his bit his bottom lip. He wedged a few grains of rice between his chopsticks and dropped them into the palm of his hand. The bird chirped curiously, cocking its head and staring at it for a moment before pecking into his hand. Genji gave a gentle smile, his eyes softening.

"Made a new friend, Genji?"

The boy jolted, cause the bird to chirp and fly off into the rafters of the kitchen. The boy sheepishly looked back up across the table, giving his father a lop-sided smile. The man, much to his surprise, stared back at his son with tender eyes (much unlike his elder brother). Genji looked up towards the ceiling, giving a sigh of dismay as he watched the cowering bird above. His father chuckled, looking back at his son.   
  
"Do not worry, Genji. He will be back." 

"Just what we need, more  _pests,_ " Hanzo muttered as he covered his mouth behind his cup. Genji flashed him a dirty look. 

"Now, now. That's no way to talk about a sparrow, Hanzo," their father scolded as he turned his attention back to the elder son. "Do you not remember the tale of The Tongue-Cut Sparrow?"  
  
"Yes, Father," the boy sputtered back, immediately bowing his head in apology.  His father arched his brow at him, patiently waiting for Hanzo to continue. The boy did not hesitate.

"There was once an old man, who found an injured sparrow in the forest. He cared for it, but his wife became jealous. So she cut out the bird's tongue and sent him back to the forest from which he came."  
  
"Is that all, my son?"

"Yes, Fa-"

_**"-No."** _

The sharp edge in Genji's voiced caused Hanzo and their father to immediately look back at him in shock. The younger son balled his fists against his thighs as he stared down into his bowl in frustration. It was true that he seldom listened to his father's words- even he knew that much. Yet the fact that Hanzo- the more  _perfect_ of the two brothers- could not even remember the ending of the tale made his stomach churn.  

"The old man went out to find the bird. And when he found him, he and his friends danced for the man. They offered him a choice between two baskets as a gift. He took the small one, for what need would an elderly man have to carry something so large? His wife stole the large basket. In the end, he found his was full of treasures beyond imagination and she-" He glanced back up, glaring at his elder brother. Hanzo was quick to return the gesture. _" **She** was gifted with poisonous snakes and died."_

Their father clapped his hands together, giving Genji a surprised, but nonetheless proud, smile. "That is correct, Genji. Always remember; it is love and kindness that will triumph over greed."

The man looked back up to the rafters above, giving a gentle grin. The sparrow was still perched there, its nerves eased as it curiously chirped down at them. He looked back at his youngest son.  
  
"You are like the old man to the sparrow, Genji. Never forget that; never forsake the kindness in your heart."

_"Yes, Father."_

* * *

Perhaps it was that day, or the few days after, that Genji could first recall his father calling him by a new name-  _Suzume....a sparrow._ For many months, Genji found himself confused as to why, every time he heard the affection in his father's voice. That was at least until one night, when the boy wearily found himself wandering out of bed in the young hours of the morning, yearning for a glass of water. But as he quenched his thirst, just beyond the walls of the kitchen, he could hear the voices of two men arguing- one his father, one his uncle.  
  
"Why do you coddle him so, Sojiro? Our clan needs warriors, not targets. He must learn how to harness his power and defend his clan."

"Because, brother. He is  _not_ like Hanzo. He is like the sparrow our father told us of; and for that I must protect him."

"If you do not straighten him into a man, Sojiro, he will be the downfall of this clan."

"He is a child without a will to inherit. Let him be a child while he still can."  
  
_And with that, Genji understood._

* * *

"Please, sir. If you could just  _tell_ us who was here-"

The officer scowled as the overgrown ape, crossing his arms defiantly. "That information is for  _official personnel._   **Only.** "   
  
Winston let loose a soft growl beneath his breath, clenching his teeth as he looked away from the man.  _This was getting them nowhere._  
  
"Relax, Winston. It will be alright. We'll find out what happened to her," Lena tried to console him, draping a tender arm over the scientist's shoulder. She flashed a sharp look back at the officer. "Even if  _he_ won't tell us."

_"TRACER."_

The young woman jumped as the voice boomed over her headpiece. The officer before them gave a curious look, arching a suspicious brow.  Lena chuckled nervously, giving him a sheepish smile. "Family call. I'll be right back."   
  
She immediately warped away from the scene, leaving Winston at his lonesome with the imprudent man as she searched to find a safe wall to hide behind. She was sure he would probably forgive her for stranding him...eventually. When the coast was finally clear, Lena placed her hand to her ear, finally returning the message.

"Genji! Are you there?"

No reply. 

_"Genji?"_

"Tracer." His cybernetic voice sounded hauntedly shaken and hollow, sending a shiver down her spine. Oh no. "Tracer, I need you to meet me back at the house. Immediatly."

The young woman's stomach dropped.  _She could already imagine what he had found. They were too late..._

 

 **No** , she needed to stay strong. Genji needed her right now.  _Play innocent._  
  
  
"I thought you said to stay with Winst-"

"Lena."

Point taken.

"Lena...there...there's a girl here. We need to take her back to base."

The woman pressed her headset further into her ear. Wait... _what?_ No...focus.  
  
"Genji...is Angela there? We can bring the kid back to the rest of the refugee camp on the way out."

_**"No."** _

Another chill ran down her spine. The edge to his tone was one she hadn't hear in  _many_ years, and it made her stomach churn. She could worry about where to bring the kid later. Right now, she needed to get Genji out of there  _immediately._

Before he made another one of  _those_ mistakes.

"Forgive me, officer, but I fail to see how confirming or denying the existence of-"  
  
_"Winston!"_  

The gorilla snapped out of his fued, looking back at the young woman warping toward him as fast as her chronal accelerator would let her. At last- rescue from this useless conversation.  
  
"Lena! You should be careful. Using the chronal accelerator in such rapid succession could damage the-" 

"Winston, we're leaving."  
  
"I-uh-" he looked back at the officer, fumbling as he adjusted his glasses. "It was good talking with you, sir. Good luck with the case."  
  
"Yes, a  _pleasure,_ " Lena spat back at the man as she pushed her friend to follow her.  
  
When they approached the aircraft was when the scientist finally spoke again.

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain  _after_ we get Genji."

 

* * *

 

Of all the ways he had expected the plane ride back to go, sitting silently across from his unmasked comrade as a tiny child clung huddled to his arm was  _not_ one of the outcomes Winston had imagined. Genji had remained eerily silent the entire time, but his rapid, uneven breaths and exposed, widened eyes were enough so tell that his colleague as  _anything_ but calm. The only sounds that could be heard were the whimpers of the anonymous child and Tracer's briefing with Sojourn's radio in the cockpit. It went this way for several minutes, perhaps an hour, before the scientist could not take it any longer. Winston pushed his bifocals to the bridge of his nose, reaching for one of the unopened jars of peanut butter hidden in the caddy beneath his feet. Against his better judgement, he knew he needed answers; this child shouldn't be there. For her safety-  _or theirs._

"Genji, who is she? Why did you-?"

"She's Angela's daughter," the cyborg replied stoutly, his eyes on the child.

The peanut butter lid slipped between his fingers, rattling on the floor at his feet. Winston stared back at the man, finding himself unable to find a cohesive reply. 

"Wait. I don't. Are you  _sure-_ "

_"Yes."_

Angela had a _family?_ Winston stared blankly into the jar as he tried to process the mere notion of it. It was a piece of a puzzle that, yet foreign to him, still fit into the picture like a glove. No  _wonder_ she had been hesitant to return to Overwatch. Winston was no parent, but he could understand that reasoning, at the very least. 

_"M...momma..."_

The girl let out another sob, clinging tighter to Genji's arm.  _Right._ _Probably not a great spot for them to be discussing this._ Winston let out a sign and relented, leaving the jar of peanut butter on his seat and unbuckling his seat belt. He wandered over the empty middle of the small plane, his eyes softening as he crouched down in front of the girl.

"Hey there."

His breath tickled her hair, her braid falling off her shoulder. The girl hesitantly looked up for the first time. She paused, her mouth slightly a gap in awe as she stared at him. The reaction seemed to get a rather peculiar response out of Genji who seemed surprised- and what almost looked a bit offended- at the interaction. Winston was finally able to get a good look at her face. It was  _remarkable_ , really. She looked nothing like Angela- from her eyes, to her brows, to the shape of her tiny jaw. Perhaps she had adopted the small one- he could easily imagine such an outcome. She did, however, look peculiarly familiar all at once in a way that Winston couldn't quite put his finger on in the moment, but he made a mental note to remind himself of later.

The girl curiously reached forward, planting her hands over his face and observing its details.   
  
"Are you...a gorillia?"

Genji snickered at her failed pronunciation. Her accent was strange and unlike anything Winston had ever heard. Maybe a bit German...Iraqi....even a little American? Winston's smile grew a little larger, charmed by her curious nature.   
  
"...and a scientist."

"Oh..." The little one paused for a moment, her brain trying to process what that meant.

"So..." She looked back at Genji inquisitively.

"You're an omninic human-"

(Genji winced at that.)

"And you're a smart gorillia."

Eh,  _close enough._

Winston chuckled, giving her a small pat on the head. It was so small that his palm nearly engulfed it.

"Pretty much!"

He could feel Genji throwing him a displeased look, but he did not dignify him with a glance in return. She was just a child, after all. And one who was just learning, at that. He could ignore being called an ape. Just this once. 

* * *

The rest of the plane ride to the Swiss facility was peaceful. Well, as peaceful as a ten hour flight with a girl who wasn't theirs and a cyborg ninja trying to conceal an impending nervous breakdown for the duration of the trip could be. 

"Buckle up tight, everyone! It's rainy, so this landing's gonna be a bit tight!" Lena warned over the intercom.

"Is...is that Overwatch?" The little one asked, pointing down at the large building below as their plane descended towards the small runway below. Genji and Winston exchanged surprised glances.  _So she knew that much._ The building wasn't in the same ruined state of disrepair that it had been when the scientist had issued the recall, but it wasn't exactly basking in the glory of the good old days, either.  
  
"Momma used'a tell me about a bunch'a crazy stories about her friends. There was a really smart monkey. And...and...a robot man!" She looked up at Genji for that. "And a time travel lady! And a really big knight! But they had to go away...and now she..." 

Genji's eyes softened as he watched the child, remorse deep-set in his eyes. Thinking quickly, Winston placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing a wide and optimistic smile as she glanced back at him. "And I bet she's going to tell you even more as soon as she gets back! Stories about the cowboy and the soldier, too!"

"There's a cowboy?!" The girl gasped, her attention successfully diverted from reality for the time being. The cyborg stared at Winston darkly, disapproving of his words. 

He waited until the plane had concluded its unideally rough landing and Tracer had brought the excited little girl inside before confronting him about it. Just as Winston was about to step out into the rainy world outside, a metallic arm snatched his shoulder holding him back.  
  
_"What_ _do you think you're doing, Winston?"_

The gorilla sighed, pushing his hand off his shoulder as he turned to look back at the man. "She's been through enough today. She deserves a bit of hope right now; she's just a child."

"What-" the words caught suddenly in Genji's throat, fighting to come out as the fear rattled his bones. He looked away, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. "What if she  _doesn't_ come back?" 

Winston watched the pain in his exposed face sympathetically, understanding why. "Then we will deal with it when that time comes."

Genji stepped back, letting Winston go on ahead as he locked his visor back onto his helmet. 

* * *

The man tossed and turned in his cot, scrunching his eyes as he tried desperately to find the peace of mind to fall asleep that night. _Why?_  
  
Why,  _why, **why**?_

With an exasperated gasp, he finally gave into his anxiety riddled insomnia, throwing his pillow across the room in frustration and surrendering the futile attempt. He sat up, his shoulders slumping with a long sigh as he watch the pillow land on the dimly lit floor with an unceremonious thump.  _Zenyatta would be scolding him for letting his anger win him over like that._   _He knew better._ Genji reluctantly stood up in defeat, walking over it. Perhaps if he were  _more_ awake, he could think everything through more clearly. 

The cyborg stood a foot or so from the coffee maker in the hospital wing break room. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust; it was one of the few wings of the facility that they hadn't started to renovate after the recall. With more and more agents slowly answering the call, it would be inevitable that it would need to be used again someday. But without Moira or Angela there, for now, it was a purposeless string of empty rooms and empty cots. Useless. 

He pulled an old bag of coffee grinds out from behind the pot, dust flying off and dancing onto his visor. If there  _were_ a doctor here, they would probably scold him for even  _touching_ such an expired lot of coffee. But, there wasn't, so Genji could do damn well what he pleased.

He leaned against the counter as the machine brewed away, taking no heed at the loud churning. No one slept near this wing except for him. And besides, he was the only agent awake this late, anyways. _That was, nowadays.._.

Another cloud of dust hit his visor as he opened the cabinet above, searching for a mug as the machine beeped. He winced, a red-eyed rat hissing back at him, and he immediately slammed the door shut again.  _He could drink out of the pot. That was fine._

He removed the mouth plate of his helmet. He wasn't sure which taste got to him first- the retched dull taste of old coffee beans or the potency enough for five men. It had been at least six years since he'd had a batch this strong, and he was suddenly reminded of how  _long_ it took him to build up an endurance to it. He sighed, kicking back a rusted chair and slumping down into it as he placed the coffee pot onto the central table. He looked over at the old billboard, filled with notes and letters from too many penmanships he could recall.   
  
_Why?_  
  
_Why had she never told him about her?_ Part of him knew the painful truth; he'd ran from Overwatch in those final days. Left her peacefully asleep and alone in bed, running but not knowing to where. He'd abandoned Overwatch when everything was crumbling down. He abandoned his friends.

_He'd abandoned **her**. _

He'd known and quelled her insecurities over and over again through the years of their friendship. **No** , she wasn't another one of  _those_ girls. **No** , she was his _best_ friend. She was  _ **everything**. _And what had he done? Rejected the pieces of him that  _she_ had built and run away like a coward. It was true; he'd finally found inner peace with his master, Zenyatta, and had just now found peace with Overwatch. But he had never found the strength to do it with her.  
  
And it was as his eyes danced over the bulletin board, landing on a rather strictly worded letter from Angela to Moira, that it hit him all at once like a storm.  
  
_Letters._

_The few letters she had sent in those early months._

_The ones he'd never been brave enough to open._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thank you so much for reading! :D There will probably a few days before the next chapter, as I have a lot of work and school to get through in the upcoming days. In the meantime, see you all soon! ^_^


	3. Shot in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji struggles with the truth as he reunites with his master, and a tragic fate is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thank you so much for all your support! ^_^  
> On that note, I really adored planning and writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ  
> ____________
> 
> "𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦; 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳." - "Shot in the Dark", Within Temptation

Genji could feel his heart racing beneath his synthetic ribs. _It was now or never._ His finger floated over the "call" button and he winced, throwing his holophone back onto his stained pillow. _Okay, maybe not **now.**_ He groaned, burrowing his bare face into his gloved hands. He'd waited nearly six years to read those letters, put off nearly six years of facing her response, her sorrow. His remorse. The man haphazardly glanced over at the dusty, half-drunken pot of coffee on his otherwise barren nightstand- save a singular picture of himself and his elder brother- and sighed. He closed his eyes, throwing a tired arm over his scarred eyelids. _He had to do this._  
  
But... _why?_ He already knew what lied inside them.

 _No._ It was time to stop hiding behind walls like a coward. People depended on him now. His  _family depended on him now._ That word-  _family-_ it felt so foreign and yet familiar in his mind all at once. What truly did it even mean to him now? Good...bad...not even he himself could decide. Genji looked back at his night stand, gazing deep into the frozen eyes of his pictured elder brother- much younger then than either of them were now.  _How the time had past them both...hadn't it, Hanzo?_

 

Finally relenting, the cyborg retreated behind his visor and sat up once more. But as he reached for his phone, a sharp- but loathsomely recognizable- pain ruptured his chest. The man winced curling in on himself.  _Not now. Please...not now..._

He gritted his teeth, taking a rather shallow sigh as he finally pressed the button on his holoscreen. Pain be **_damned_** , it was time to get this over with.

 

One ring passed. 

  
Then two.

  
And a third.

 

A shameful part of Genji prayed that perhaps his master was in the midst of midday mediation already; perhaps he could escape facing his deeply suppressed fears and save them for some other time, when the pain was gone and a half-pot of the world's second strongest and first most stale coffee wasn't causing his head to spin. But alas, a fourth ring of his phone did not sound before a familiar face appeared on his screen. Genji took another labored breath, closing his eyes for just a moment in a quick attempt to compose himself in his sorry state before confronting his old master.  
  
"Greetings, Genji. It's been a while since our last conversation."

A faint smile found its way behind the man’s mask. It had only been a few months, but yet he'd missed that comforting voice all too much.

"Good evening, master."

The omnic chuckled. "Or good early  _morning_ for you now, isn't it?"  
  
He paused for a moment, his sight sensors readjusting to look toward something away from his student for a brief moment.  
  
"Genji, is that a  _pot_ of coffee?"

The cyborg winced.  _ **Crap**. He'd forgotten to hide it out of frame, hadn't he?_ He glanced over his shoulder, mortified.   
  
"...yes, master."

The robot shook his head disapprovingly with a drawn out sigh.   
  
"I thought we discussed this. Drinking coffee is-“

" _-bad for my mental and physical health._ I know, master. Forgive me," the man finished, praying to keep this lecture as abbreviated as possible. "There's something I wanted to-"

"What's troubling you, Genji?"

The cyborg winced.  _Was he truly that easy to read?_ Recalling his past with Zenyatta, he always seemed to have been- for the monk, at least. The ninja hesitated as he propped the phone at the end of his bed post, crossing his legs as the pain partially subsided and fumbling with his hands aimlessly. 

"It's...it's about those letters. The old ones from my friend..."

"You mean the ones you never opened?" The omnic asked knowingly, keenly watching his pupil's reluctant mannerisms. It hit Genji a little too hard, and he bit his tongue, refraining from a response. The omnic let out yet another long sigh, pausing a brief moment before continuing. "I was concerned about you leaving this early, Genji. You needed to come to peace with  ** _all_** parts of yourself before moving forward."

Genji glanced away remorsefully, his hands clutching to his knees. He knew that...but what was he supposed to do? Ignore Winston's recall when the world had fallen back into such turmoil? When Doomfist was out there once more? When his own  _brother_ still needed saving....? And once again, Zenyatta could read him all too well, like a well-worn book. 

"I  _know_ there are those that you want to save, but you must first resolve and cleanse the chaos within yourself."

The cyborg's eyes trailed back to the screen. "That's what I want to do  _now,_ master. I-" The words attempted to trap themselves, but Genji forced them out with a faint whisper. _"I messed up, master."_

The monk quietly watched his student, letting a few moments of much needed silence and contemplation pass between them. 

"I will send them you at this outpost of yours."

"I...yes, master. _Thank you._ "

"Remember, Genji, I am only a call away."

The man merely nodded before ending the call with his foot, not wanting to risk the pain of leaning over again. The time to come out from behind his final wall was coming. But for now, all he could do was wait. 

* * *

 

Sleep might have been for the weak, but the soreness in every organic muscle left in Genji's body was starting to tell him otherwise this early in the morning. The weariness hung on him like a heavy blanket, and he could feel his sense of patience running thin as Winston and Lena babbled on about their well-meaning, but oblivious, plan of action in the scientist's laboratory. He did his best to drown the sounds out, clinging to a (much fresher, thankfully) mug of coffee as his weary eyes scanned the news on his holophone. Perhaps the agitation was because he wished to check on Suzume, whom their newest returned agent, Echo, was off checking her vitals. Or perhaps it was a fear of not knowing exactly where they had taken Angela, or what had happened to her. Or perhaps it was the headache of this entire situation.  
  
Then again, it could have just been the mere lack of sleep. Genji was too worn out to tell anymore.

"We still have no leads on her. The only one who knows anything is-"

_"Suzume."_

Winston and Lena looked up at the cyborg in surprise as he peered over his mug at the duo for a brief moment. Thankfully, visor in place, they could not see the split second of panic on his face as he recognized how quickly he had jumped to answer. He hastily shrugged it off, returning to scanning through yet another report.  
  
_"She told me her name when we met yesterday,”_  he added as the inquisitive silence between his comrades persisted.

 _"Oh,"_ Lena returned quietly. She was trying to read him behind the mask, but he wasn't going to let her win that easily. Removing only his mouthpiece, the man played innocent, taking a long sip of his coffee (to which he silently lamented its admittedly weak roast). His eyes narrowed, and he set down the mug on the table before him as he discovered a Hanamura news headline stating ' _Resurgence of Shimada Activity Downtown.'_  
  
"Genji, I know this is hard on you."

" _It's hard on all of us,"_ the man retorted, repositioning his mouthpiece once more. He still denied looking up, bookmarking and opening the article instead. 

Lena gave a huff, off-put by his distant attitude. "Look I **_know_   **you're hurt. And you're not alone- we _all_ are. But it's also okay to feel a little betray-"

The sleep-deprived irritation nipped at the cyborg a bit too hard and he paused, finally glancing up again from his screen. As she was met with a silent, hidden glare, the young woman immediately bit her tongue, realizing she'd overstepped her boundaries. She gave a hushed apology, shielding herself as she turned back to Winston.

 _"How do we approach the kid?"_   The scientist quickly interjected. "She's the only one who saw whomever took Angela."

 _"We **don't** ,"_ Genji flatly retorted, turning his attention back to the article. His heart rate picked up as he recognized yet another one of his hastily thrown interjections, and he quickly improvised an elaboration. "You said it yourself yesterday, Winston. She's just a child. She's been through enough."

 _Damn_ , that was a half-backed rehash of an excuse if Genji had ever heard one. And judging by the quirk of the scientist’s brow, he’d picked up on how hollow his borrowed quotation had seemed.

The young woman huffed. At her wit’s end with his attitude, she leaned over and snatching the holophone out of his hand.  
  
"What's with you, Genji?! Why are you acting like this?!"

 _"Lena-"_   Winston tried to interject, but the woman ignored him, standing up from her chair and kicking it behind her defiantly.

" **No**! I haven't seen you act this...this _rude_ since-"

Genji narrowed his eyes, giving her a silent warning as he attempted to swipe the phone back from her. She guarded it to her chest, refusing to let him near it.  
  
_"-since Blackwatch."_

The cyborg had had just about enough of her attitude as well. " _Lena, **give** me the phone!"_

"No! And you know what _**else**?_"  
  
Winston rose from his desk and quickly stepped between them, but it was no use; the woman had no intentions of refraining. She looked down, flicking through the articles Genji had saved.  
  
"Lena,  _don't-"_ the scientist pleaded uselessly. 

"It feels like  _you're_ hiding some.... _thing_..." Lena's voice trailed off as she saw the Hanamura article. Her gaze trailed back to her friend. "Genji? Why... _why are you..._ "

The man scoffed and lunged for his phone once more- this time successfully. Lena held her hand against herself, searching the man as he turned away with utterly devastated eyes.

"I thought...I thought you had let them go..."

The cyborg gave a long breath, clutching his phone as he bit the inside of his cheek. He  _knew_ that  **they** had been responsible for Angela's disappearance. Suzume's lineage, the precise cuts on the door and furniture. It was all  _unmistakable._ But how had they known she even existed, nevertheless where she was? And to make matters worse, how was he supposed to tell this to all to their friends? Hadn't they all been through enough trouble between one another through the years?  
  
So Genji did the best thing he could; he settled for the middle ground.  
  
"I think...I think that they were  _hired_ to kidnap Angela. Those marks on the door...I'd know them _anywhere._ "  
  
Winston stared at his colleague through squinted eyes, trying to make sense of how he'd come to such an outlandish conclusion. "But...why?"

The cyborg hesitated on a hitched breath, staring down at the article one last time. There was nothing but one thing he could say.

_"...I...I don't know."_

* * *

 

"You're doing great. Just one more test, and we'll be done!"  
  
Echo projected a reassuring smile onto the screen where her face lie as she attempted to reach forward- _gently-_ for the girl's arm. The little one pursed her lip, holding her arm back defensively from the omnic. 

"No more!" She whined, her legs dangling off the side of the workout chair as she defiantly narrowed her eyes. Echo couldn't help but chuckle, resting a comforting hand on her bandaged knee. 

"This is the  _last_ one- for  _real_ this time."

The girl hesitated before reluctantly surrendering her arm to the woman, still wary.   
  
_"Promise?"_

"Cross my heart," Echo reassured with a light nod. The girl sighed, only wincing slightly this time as the omnic dabbed the last light graze on her forearm with hydrogen peroxide. The woman looked back into the mirror against the wall beside them, watching their reflections as she tied the last bandage around her limb. The training gym was truly no place to be performing first aid. But being the most used room in the facility these days, it was naturally the most regularly sanitized- especially in comparison to the still derelict ruins of the hospital wing. Echo knew she was no certified doctor, but with none of the former agent medics having responded to the recall, she did her best to patch up the young girl as best she could. 

"You know, you're'a lot less scary than _him,_ " they girl quietly mumbled as Echo finally began to pack away the first aid kit. 

 _"Oh?"_ The woman asked inquisitively, glancing up at the child.  _She must have been referring to Genji._

"Well, our  **scientist** said you were clinging to **him** the entire ride here," Echo playfully returned, bending over and offering the girl a hand as she teetered to her feet.   
  
"He was less scary without the glowy mask," she explained. Echo couldn't help but giggle. 

"I think he just wears it on purpose, to scare his enemies," she explained as Suzume followed her out of the gym. Her leg, still a bit torn up, caused her to limp slightly behind the woman. The girl nervously wrapped her arms around herself.

"Oh...I'm not one of the **bad** guys...right?" 

Echo paused and gently smiled to the child. The omnic bent down and let her climb upon her back for support once she had locked the door behind them. 

"Of _course_  not. I think that's why he took of the mask for you."

* * *

 

**_First came the kaleidoscope of sound, muffled and impossible to decipher. It was followed slowly, but surely, by sight- a blurred landscape of hazy colors that she couldn't quite grasp. Very last was the searing pain- in her head, her chest, that was clear as day; the only thing her mind could truly make out._ **

**_Angela's entire body felt weak and yet heavy as lead; she could not find the strength left to move. Her body was engulfed in a sticky and wet sensation. And when the little part of her consciousness recognized it, she understood._ **

**_She was bleeding out; she was dying. She could not make out the murky voices and shapes around her. But perhaps now, that was for the best._**  
  
"What am I do the the corpse of this...this _German_ woman?!"

"I...I believe she's Swiss, sir," the agent beneath the man's shadow meekly replied. It was not without punishment, however, as he quickly found his own jaw bleeding lightly as he fell into the floor.  
  
"I do not **CARE** what she is. This was **not** part of your mission!" Hayato looked at the rest of the reconnaissance party with disgust, gritting his teeth as he peered at the bleeding form of a woman they had brought and left on the pristine courtyard of his clan's castle. He stepped forward, his foot landing just before the face of the agent below him.   
  
"Where. Is. The. _Child_. _"_ The rest of the agents looked back silently at one another, not daring to interject with the truth. Hayato knelt down over the man, eyes narrowing silently with a final warning.

"She...she was _gone,_ sir," he weakly replied through the pain of his jaw, accepting his fate. But yet, Hayato would not give him such a punishment today. For their clan was not the empire it once was under his brother's reign. For now, he was forced to refrain and keep the few loyal- if  _ **abysmally** incompetent- _warriors their clan had left. He clenched his teeth, turning on his heal and balling his fists in a desperate attempt to keep his composure. He glanced back one last time to the agent upon the floor, who wobbled as he pulled himself to his knees. 

"Katashi, clean your wounds and see to the our healers if this woman can be saved. The information she holds might be of use to us yet. And the rest of you," he turned back, staring keenly at the remainder of his men. "Return to the camp and  **find her.** Need I not remind you the fate of our clan should you fail."

* * *

 

 

Yet, the frustration could not last forever on the man, and it gradually turned to weariness as the sun rested and the moon rose. As he fell into his bed beside his aging wife, Hayato gave a long, broken sigh, covering his face in his rugged palms. The information that _girl_ had paid him off with- had it all been just a ruse for her to escape his clutches clean and simple? Or perhaps it had been just a faulty exchange so that Talon- the company his own beloved, late brother had despised so fervently- could at last get their hands on some of the most coveted weapons his clan had monopolized behind closed doors. Had he really been _that_ desperate- that _naive-_ to fall for a simple hacker's proposition? His wife caught the pain in her the arc of her husband's back and rose, gently wrapping her arms around his chest from behind. 

"Remain faithful, my dear. They _will_ find the child. The power of the twin dragons has never abandoned our clan, not in a thousand years."

The man leaned into her embrace, running a hand through his graying hair. "I know my love, _I know._ But why? Why must of it been Sojiro the only one of us able to continue on our legacy? He was our strongest leader in five generations, yet _why_ must he have let his sons be raised to be so impudent and traitorous? If he had just  _ **listened** to me _in those days..."

"I **know** , love," the woman softly whispered, kissing his cheek. "But there is _still_ hope. She is still out there; she has our lineage, the power to harness the dragons.  _We_ can raise her the way she was destined to be, to carry on the Shimada clan. Nothing has yet been lost."

The man closed his eyes, slowly letting the weariness overtake him into slumber as he returned his wife's embrace. _"Yes...we shall bring the dragons home.."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tfw your clan is trying to kidnap the daughter your just found out existed like ten hours ago because they want their magic dragons back (。-_-)_且  
> ————
> 
> I’m starting to realize how many characters I’m creating arcs for and that this story is very quickly turning into a being slow burn fic. Luckily I’m a sucker for writing long stories when time permits. ^_^’
> 
> Thank you so much everyone for reading this chapter! I apologize in advance if Echo ends up a bit ooc. Right now, there was only about 20 seconds of footage to go by with zero lore, so hopefully the way I wrote he doesn’t end up *too* far off canon down the line when more is released on her. ^_^’ I wanted to include her since she would have probably been one of the first recalled agents to return after the Winston, Tracer, and Genji.
> 
> On that note, I do have plans for more of the team to reunite, but that’s another story for another day.  
> _______________________
> 
> SCHEDULE NOTE: After posting this chapter, I will be putting this story on a brief 1 1/2 to 2 week hiatus while I focus on classes and finish writing the next chapter for my BnHA fic.
> 
> Anyways, thanks again for reading, and I’ll catch you guys soon in the next update!  
> ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone! This is a headcanon idea I've had in my head for a bit. I don't usually post my headcanons on Ao3, but for some reason I felt possessed to actually write this one out. I do have more of a story planned, so I might make this a multichapter fic later.  
> ^_^


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